4 p. ø., 5-192 p. illus. (incl. ports) col. plates. 24 cm.
Series
Publications of the Pennsylvania historical commission.
Notes
At head of title: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
"Authorities cited": p. 179-182.
Summary
" An intensive study of the Big House Ceremony, one of the Paramount ceremonies of the Delaware Indians for the fulfillment of obligations to the host of spiritual beings comprising their cosmography. The author, a noted ethnologist, gives a historical resume of the Big House Ceremony as it existed in the 17th and 18th centuries, and its distribution among neighboring tribes, where it appeared in various attenuated forms. A good part of this source consists of the original native text supplied by the author's primary informant Wi-tapano'xwe (War Eagle), which is then given a free translation by the author with the thought in mind of preserving the order, emphasis, terms of thought, and wording characteristic of native speech. Abundant explanatory footnotes augment the English translation." [ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu]
